The assessment of taxpayers is set to become jurisdiction-free from October this year. In connection with this, the department will launch a pilot project, covering 100 cities, to identify the loopholes.
A special software has been developed for this purpose which will allocate a particular tax payers’ profile to any officer across the country.
In the existing system, taxpayers are assessed in the specific region where they are based.
The move aims to curb corruption in the department along with harassment faced by the assessees. “This is a first-of-its-kind initiative. Under this, neither the assessee nor the tax officer would know the other’s identity,”a senior department Officer said.
The first experiment would be done on scrutiny cases through an ‘e-proceeding’ system — an internet-based paperless communication system for tax dealings. The department is working on similar modules.
As per the new system of assessment, if the tax department launches scrutiny against a person in Delhi, the software will provide the related correspondence and generate a unique identification number. This number, or code, would be randomly assigned to an assessing officer (AO) based in say, Mumbai or Guwahati or anywhere else. The AO will not be able to identify the person against whom the scrutiny has been launched. The investigation will be pursued based on the case details and the relevant documents pertaining to the matter.
The system would be equipped to deal with all kinds of tax-related matters, including filing of returns, scrutiny cases, and others, he added.
The new system would also do away with the AOs’ discretionary powers to call for additional documents, records, and most importantly, ask the taxpayer to appear in person.
Under the pilot project, the additional documents, if required, will be sought through the system, which will automatically send a request to the assessee for submission of the same.
The jurisdiction-free assessment system aims to minimize interaction between the taxpayer and the tax officer, ensuring a transparent and no-harassment culture. “The e-communication is expected increase voluntarily participation, and give more comfort to the assessee,” added the officer.
